Sleeping Seeley
by DaLiza
Summary: Booth is in a coma, but Parker thinks he knows how Bones can wake him up. Fluffiness ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I was planning on taking a break from fan fic to concentrate on looking for a new job, but this story wouldn't leave me alone. Hope you enjoy!**

"Booth, it's me–your favorite forensic anthropologist," Brennan said to her comatose partner as she settled into the uncomfortable chair by his hospital bed. It had been three weeks since a murder suspect had shot him, three weeks since he had slipped into the coma. She had come to see him every night after leaving the lab; it had become a part of her daily routine. His doctors weren't entirely optimistic about his recovery, but they didn't know Booth like she did. He was a fighter; he wasn't going to give up. She was confident that he would wake up at any moment, and she wanted to be there when it happened. Before tonight, however, she had never said a word, only watched him sleep. Yet over the last few days, Angela had been encouraging her to talk to him. Brennan didn't believe that Booth could hear her, but Angela had insisted that talking would help them both. Although she still thought it was irrational, she had promised Angela that she would give it a try tonight.

Glancing around furtively to make sure no one else was around, she addressed her partner. "Angela said I should tell you about what's been going on since...since you got shot. I've been working on a set of remains from ancient Rome. Male, age 20 to 25. Possible murder, considering the extensive damage to his skull. It's not the same as investigating a recent homicide, but it's still fascinating. Zach has been working on an article for an anthropology journal. He asked me to look it over last week. He did a great job; I'm very proud of him. Angela and Hodgins have been...busy. I walked in on them kissing in the autopsy bay a few days ago. Anyway, they all miss you and want you to get better soon."

She paused, debating with herself if she should continue, if she should be completely honest with him. _Why shouldn't I be? It's not like he can really hear me. _"I miss you too, Booth. I miss the way you stride into the lab. I miss the way you smile when you say we have a new case. I miss the way you drag me away from work and force me to eat something, or bring me take out in the middle of the night. I miss the way you hug me when I'm upset, and how you make me believe that everything will be okay." Tears filled her eyes and raced down her cheeks, and she made no efforts to stop them. "I want...I need you back in my life, Booth. Please. Please come back to me."

XXXXXXXXXX

Booth had never felt happier in his life. He was lying on a towel on a white sandy beach, looking up at a cloudless sky. His left arm was draped around Bones' shoulders; she was sleeping by his side, her head on his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist. They were alone and surrounded by silence. Even the waves crashing upon the shore were quiet, as if they didn't want to disturb this perfect moment. He let out a long, slow breath, savoring the feeling of contentment. He couldn't say how long they had been lying here–days? Weeks? Months? Time didn't matter anymore, the rest of the world didn't matter anymore. He had his Bones, and she was all he needed.

Now a voice was breaking the silence. It seemed to come from all around him. He knew it sounded familiar, but some time passed before he realized it was Brennan's voice. Now he was really confused. How could Bones be talking to him when she was asleep beside him? He tried to listen to the words, but they sounded as if they were coming from a great distance, and by the time they reached his ears the meaning had been lost. One phrase, however, successfully completed the long journey: "Please come back to me." _I don't understand, _he thought as he turned his head to face her. _I'm right here, Bones. I haven't left you; you know I would never, ever leave you._ He decided that the voice was a figment of his imagination, or a dream masquerading as reality. Pushing it out of his mind, he focused his attentions on admiring his sleeping partner.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Dr. Bones, do you love my daddy?" Parker asked her the following night. Rebecca had brought him to visit his father, but had left the room a few minutes earlier to use the bathroom.

Brennan was taken aback that someone so young could be so bold...and so perceptive. "I...I care about him very much, Parker."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "I don't know if it will work then."

"If what will work?"

"You giving daddy a kiss."

She almost laughed, but stopped when she saw the serious expression on his face. "Why would giving him a kiss help?"

"When Sleeping Beauty was sleeping, the prince kissed her and she woke up because he loved her," Parker explained. "I watched the movie with Mommy."

Brennan put her hand on his shoulder and spoke softly. "That was only a movie. Things like that don't happen in real life."

"But could you try?" The look on his face instantly reminded Brennan of Booth when he wanted something.

Brennan was spared from answering by Rebecca's return. "It's getting late, Parker. We need to go home and get ready for bed. Good night, Dr. Brennan."

"Good night, Rebecca."

"Can you say good night to Dr. Brennan?" Rebecca prompted her son.

"Good night, Dr. Bones," he said sadly. He allowed his mother to take his hand and lead him towards the door , but he stopped suddenly when they reached the doorway and whirled around. "Will you try? Please?"

She couldn't say no to him, not when he looked so much like Booth. "Okay. I'll try."

Parker smiled--it was the Booth charm smile in miniature–and left the room with Rebecca.

Left alone with Booth once again, Brennan thought about what she had just agreed to. She had often wondered what it would be like to kiss Booth; she had even dreamed about it. In none of her fantasies, however, had she ever imagined that he would be unconscious! She couldn't do this; it was wrong. She could tell Parker that she had tried the kiss and it didn't work. Yet, if Parker was as like Booth as he appeared, he would know that she was lying and feel hurt. He was already sad about his father; she didn't want to cause him any more pain. Telling herself that it was for Parker's sake, Brennan slowly lowered her lips to Booth's.

XXXXXXXXXX

He was still admiring his sleeping partner when he felt his lips tingling. _That's strange; it almost feels like someone's kissing me._ _Am I imagining this too? _Yet as the feeling in his lips intensified he doubted that his imagination was that powerful. Someone _was_ kissing him, he decided, and it was no ordinary kiss. It warmed his body from head to toe, stirring his dormant senses, breathing new life into him. The beach, the waves, the sky–all of it melted away. This kiss was the only real thing in the world, and he was determined to hold onto it.

XXXXXXXXXX

_I can't believe I'm doing this_; _this is utterly ridiculous,_ Brennan thought as she kissed him. _I need to stop before some passing doctor or nurse sees me and throws me out of the hospital for molesting a patient. _As she started to pull away, something impossible happened–Booth flung his arms around her and kissed her back.

Not trusting her senses, she pulled away to face him. "Booth?!"

He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly against the florescent lights that hung above his bed. Taking in his surroundings, he realized that he was in a hospital. "What happened?"

She was blushing furiously and couldn't quite bring herself to look him in the eye. "You...you were shot. You've been in a coma for three weeks."

"Three weeks?!" _Oh god. I must have put her through hell. _" I'm so sorry, Bones. In my mind you were by my side the whole time...if I had known the truth, I would have fought like hell to come back to you. I would have never been away from you for so long."

"I know," she said, still looking away from him.

His heart ached when he saw a tear slide down her beautiful cheek. He had promised himself that he would always be there for her, but for the past three weeks he had abandoned her. He had failed her as a friend and partner and he hated himself for it. "I feel terrible, Bones. I could really use a guy hug right now. Could you maybe help me out with that?"

She laughed softly and finally turned to face him. Slowly she moved toward him and reached out to embrace him. He pulled her close to him, rubbing her back gently when, a few moments later, she began to sob into his chest. She hadn't clung to him this tightly since he had rescued her from Kenton. "It's okay," he told her soothingly. "I'm here. I came back to you."

"I don't want to lose you ever again," she said between sobs.

"You won't. I promise. No matter what happens, I will _always_ come back to you." When she stopped crying a few minutes later, he dared to bring up the kiss. "So...uh...I had this dream that someone was kissing me," he said, trying to gauge her reaction. "It was an amazing kiss... It broke through my fantasy world and showed me the way home. Thank you."

"It was Parker's idea," she said, embarrassed.

"My son told you to kiss me?" Booth made a mental note to buy Parker a large ice cream sundae the next time he saw him.

She nodded earnestly. "He said it worked for Sleeping Beauty."

"Sleeping Beauty?" Booth repeated incredulously, his face twisted in disgust. "I am NOT a princess."

She laughed. "It worked, didn't it? Or would you rather be back in the coma?"

"That depends," he said suggestively.

"On what?"

The infamous charm smile lit up his face. "Would you kiss me again to wake me up?"

"No," she said firmly. Seeing his face fall, she added: "The next time I kiss you I want you to be completely conscious."

The promise of 'next time' brought a goofy grin to his handsome face. "Okay. Well...I'm conscious right now. I feel a little weak, though. Better kiss me quick before I have a relapse."

She glared at him. "If you relapse, I'll kick your--"

The rest of her threat was lost as Booth covered her mouth with his. He worried for a moment that she might hit him, but his anxiety slipped away when she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Getting shot and spending three weeks in a coma suddenly seemed a small price to pay for the pure joy he felt at this moment.

"How are you feeling now?" Brennan asked breathlessly when the kiss ended.

"Great," he beamed. "In fact, I've never felt better."

"That's because you're experiencing a release of endorphins," she said in true squint fashion.

"Call it whatever you want, Bones, but your kisses are still the best medicine I've ever had."

As she kissed him again, even more passionately than before, Booth knew that like Sleeping Beauty and her love, he and Bones were sure to live happily ever after.

**Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I hadn't planned on continuing this, but beaglelvr93 suggested I do another chapter. Many thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter; hope you enjoy this chapter just as much. :)**

Booth was so focused on the feel of his partner's lips against his own that it took him several seconds to realize that someone was screaming.

"He's awake!" A young female nurse shouted. "And he's making out with his partner!" The sound of running footsteps immediately followed the shout. When Booth reluctantly pulled himself away from the best kiss of his life, he saw half a dozen people standing in the doorway of his room. Brennan self-consciously withdrew from Booth's embrace and settled into the chair by his bed.

"Hello, Agent Booth," said a bearded man who appeared to be in charge. "May we come in?"

_No, go away so I can go back to kissing my partner, _Booth thought. But his mouth said "Yes."

The bearded man walked over to Booth and shook his hand as the others entered the room behind him. "I'm Dr. Wallace. This is Dr. Arnold, Dr. Landon, Nurse Sarah, Katherine, and the one who shattered your eardrums is Megan," he said, pointing to each person as he introduced them. "We've been looking after you for the past few weeks. I'm very happy to see that you're back among the living."

Booth looked at Bones as he answered. "I'm very happy to be back."

Dr. Wallace followed Booth's gaze. "I told your partner that you might never recover; I wanted her to prepare herself. She said that you wouldn't give up. She's been visiting you every night."

"Every night?" Booth grinned. "I knew you couldn't live without me."

"I was just being a good partner," she lied.

"Clearly you're more than partners," Megan muttered, a big smile on her face.

"Megan!" Katherine said in the voice of one chastising a small child.

"What? Didn't you see them kissing? It looked like they were giving each other CPR."

Dr. Wallace glared at the young nurse. "I'm sorry, Agent Booth. Megan has many skills, but being tactful isn't one of them."

_That sounds a lot like someone I know, _Booth thought. "It's okay. You're right, Megan, we are more than partners. Bones...Dr. Brennan...is everything to me."

"That's the endorphins talking," Brennan argued.

Booth opened his mouth to argue back but Dr. Wallace spoke first. "Agent Booth, we're going to check your vitals and run a few tests. If everything comes back normal, you should be able to go home in a couple days."

"So you and your 'partner' will have plenty of time to work out your relationship issues," Megan added.

"Megan!" Katherine said again, her voice carrying a warning. "Why don't you continue on your rounds."

Megan gave a defeated sigh. "Fine." Before she left, she leaned close to Booth and whispered, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Booth said. _If Bones continues to insist that my feelings for her are nothing more than a chemical response, I'm definitely going to need it._

XXXXXXXXXX

"All my tests were fine, so my doctor says I can go home tomorrow," Booth told Angela, Hodgins and Zach when they came to visit the next day.

"That's great," Angela replied. "We've all missed you a lot, haven't we, Bren?"

Booth turned to his partner expectantly, foolishly hoping she was about to declare her love for him. Instead she merely nodded. _Sooner or later, I'm going to make you admit your feelings for me. I hope. _"So, did Bones tell you guys how she woke me up?"

All eyes turned to Brennan. "She just said that you were better," Hodgins said.

"I am better, thanks to Bones. I heard her talking to me--"

"I knew it!" Angela interrupted proudly. "I told her talking would help."

"It did, Angela, thanks for suggesting it," Booth continued. "As I was saying, I heard her talking to me, and then something interesting happened. Bones, do you want to finish the story?"

All eyes were on her again and she felt her cheeks burning. "Come on, Bren, tell us," Angela urged.

"Yeah, don't keep us in suspense," Hodgins added.

She knew that if she didn't say it, Booth would. "It was Parker's idea," she said after a long pause.

"What was Parker's idea?" Zach asked.

"That I...that I kiss Booth."

"Well, it's about time," Hodgins said with a smile.

"You WHAT?" Angela shouted. "Bren, that is so unfair! I've been telling you to kiss him for years, but you never listened to _me_!" Hodgins put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"A kiss woke you up?" Zach said. "Medically, that seems highly improbable."

"Improbable or not, it happened," Booth said. "But don't lay it all on Parker, Bones. You wanted to kiss me."

"No, I didn't."

"Admit it, Bones. You wanted to kiss me because...because you love me."

She didn't want to love him, because every man she loved ended up leaving her. Unfortunately, however, she did have feelings for him, but it was better not to verbalize them. Better to stay as 'just partners' than risk losing the most important person in her life. "I don't love you. I kissed you as a favor to Parker."

"And what about the other kisses?" _You can't fake that kind of passion, Bones._ _You can't say that they didn't mean anything._

"Those were just to make you feel better." _Honestly, they made me feel a lot better, too._

"Damn it, Bones. I know you love me; just say it!" _Please. I don't want to beg, but I'll do it if I have to._ _I'll do anything for you, you know that._

"I won't." _I'm afraid to say it._

_She's afraid that I'll leave her, like her other lovers. _"You don't have to be afraid."

_I hate how he can read my mind. _"I'm not afraid. I don't want to say it because it's not true." As soon as the words left her mouth, Brennan had to look away from him. She had seen Booth in pain before--when he was blown up in her kitchen, when he had been tortured by Gallagher--but she had never seen greater suffering in his eyes than at this moment.

In the terrible silence that followed, Angela, Hodgins and Zach looked at each other. "We should go," Angela said awkwardly. "We'll see you tomorrow." As the squinty trio prepared to slip out of the room, the door opened and Parker ran in, his mother walking behind him.

"Daddy!" Parker shouted, running to his father and hugging him.

"I'm so glad you're better, Seeley," Rebecca said.

Booth ran his hand through his son's hair. "Thanks a lot for bringing him by."

"No problem. I'll let you two have some time together. I'll be waiting in the lobby, Parker," she said as she left the room.

"Shouldn't we be going too?" Zach asked softly, turning to Angela and Hodgins.

"No way!" Angela answered. "I want to see this little man work his magic."

Parker was jumping up and down. "You're awake, you're awake!" His eyes wide, he suddenly turned to Brennan. "Did you kiss Daddy?" When she nodded, he ran to her and threw his arms up in the air.

"He wants you to pick him up," Booth explained when he saw his partner's confused expression.

"Oh." As soon as she lifted him up, he put his little arms around her.

"Thank you, Dr. Bones," he whispered into her ear.

"You're welcome, Parker."

When she gently lowered him to the floor, he ran back to his father's side. "Daddy! The kiss worked! Dr. Bones loves you!"

Brennan sighed. _How do you explain this to a child? _"Parker, I told you before that I care about your dad. That's not the same as love."

Parker frowned. "So...you don't love Daddy?"

_Why does he have to look at me like that? _"No, Parker. I don't."

"Why not? Is he mean to you?"

She didn't want to have this conversation again; it had been painful enough with his father. "I... have to go to work, Parker. I'll talk to you later."

"Oh no, you don't," Angela said, moving to block her way and dragging Hodgins beside her. "You're not leaving until you answer the kid's question."

"Angela--"

"Forget it, Brennan. I'm NOT moving."

Reluctantly she turned back to Parker. "No, your dad's not mean to me. He's very nice. He cares about me and protects me from bad people. He's a good man; actually, he's the best man I know." She snuck a glance at Booth and saw that he was smiling.

"Do you love someone else? Mommy used to love Daddy but now she loves Drew."

_I can't believe I'm having this conversation. _"No, I don't love anyone else."

"Daddy loves you." He stared at his father. "Don't you, Daddy?"

"Yes I do. I love her very, very much," he said, turning to face Brennan, then turning back to his son. "I think that deep down inside she loves me too, but she's too scared to admit it."

"Why is Dr. Bones scared?"

"Because other people have hurt her. Other people who said they loved her have walked out on her."

"You'd never hurt her, Daddy."

"I know that, Parker," Brennan interjected. "But it's more than that. Your Daddy and I work together, and that makes things complicated."

"Don't use that as an excuse," Angela put in. "Look at me and Hodgins. If we can make it work, you guys can too. Bren, don't you remember what you said to me when Booth went into the coma three weeks ago? You said that you regretted never telling him your true feelings. Well, you can tell him now. We'll give you some privacy. Come with your Aunt Angela, you wonderful boy." With a hopeful smile at Brennan, Angela took Parker's hand and led him, Hodgins and Zach out of the room.

Left alone now, Booth and Brennan spent a few minutes in silence. Finally Booth said, "Look, Bones, as much as I want you to share your feelings with me, you should do it on your own time. You don't have to say anything right now. I've waited two years; what's another couple--"

"I do love you, Booth," Brennan interrupted. "More than any other lover I've had. I've tried to deny it, to hide it, to work around it, but maybe it's time to acknowledge what has always been there."

Booth almost laughed. _I tell her she doesn't have to say anything and she says everything. I should have known; she always does the opposite of what I tell her!_ "Does that mean you're willing to try a relationship with me?"

"Yes." She threw her arms around him and kissed him, a long, lingering kiss that neither wanted to end. When it was over, she laid beside him in the hospital bed, savoring the feel of her body pressed against his.

Booth wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, smiling all the way down to his soul. _So this is what 'happily ever after' feels like._

FINIS

**Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated. :)**


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